I’m Very Sorry That in My Evangelical Leadership Days I Helped Pave the Road for Trump’s Assault on Democracy

Only an anti-science ass would joke about needing “good old global warming” because of some cold weather. Then again that’s who Trump is: the ass in every class who thinks he’s smart while everyone else knows he’s not the lovable class clown but the class idiot- who’s a bully to boot.

Who would support such a self-evidently crass conman? White evangelicals, that’s who.

Why?

As I describe in my new multi-touch interactive memoir “Letter to Lucy: A Manifesto of Creative Redemption—In the Age of Trump, Fascism and Lies” (on iTunes), evangelicals have core beliefs: the Bible is literally true, Jesus died for our sins, folks who don’t accept this will burn. Now they’ve added a new doctrine to the old insanity I grew up on as the child of and then sidekick to, my religious right leader father Francis Schaeffer. The new core belief is that Trump is the key to preparing for the return of Christ. Political tribe and religious tribe now share one and the same madness.

Millions of evangelicals have been so thoroughly indoctrinated into the Bible-sanctified Republican ideology that my dad and I pushed in the 1970s and 80s, as I describe in “Letter to Lucy,” that it’ll take a generation to move them away from the beliefs that elected Trump. Those beliefs also put the Koch’s ilk in charge of Congress and the smarmy faker Mike Pence, in charge of turning America into a catastrophic theocracy.

Some “respectable” evangelicals are noticing that their brand is suffering in the eyes of the sane. For instance, at Princeton University, the Princeton Evangelical Fellowship renamed itself Princeton Christian Fellowship to get away from the post-Trump negative associations of the word “evangelical.”

Name changes solve nothing. Evangelical’s post-Trump brand problem is a function of their product problem. Their product is the very stupid belief that the Bible is literally true and that God will burn you forever if you disagree. Come to think of it, that’s even nastier and stupider than voting for an abusive fraud like Trump.

I’ll believe evangelical leaders who are dropping the post-Trump evangelical label are sincere about repenting only when they ask what it is about their Bible-believing worldview itself that prepared millions of ordinary white believers to vote for a bigoted, sexist anti-intellectual racist fraud offering them a vision of theocracy as a trade for their votes.

This leaves them susceptible to justifying pure evil in the name of a little god as backward as Trump is backward.

Who supports Trump today? Evangelicals who were born into households that isolated them in homeschooling or church schools, sent them to institutions like Bob Jones, Liberty U or Wheaton College where their religious, political and white identity was cemented and they carried forward their theocracy project- unquestioned.

The merger of biblical Christianity with the Republican dogmas I helped facilitate in the 1970-80s, leaves believers vulnerable to Trump/GOP-type exploitation and will continue to do so until the theology itself is repudiated. Literal belief in an infallible inerrant Bible grooms evangelicals for abuse… and to become abusers.

Well, there you have it. Don’t try to claim that Frank doesn’t hate Christians because he just proved he does. Once again. This isn’t the first time he has said so. Schaeffer believes nothing in the Bible is literally true. And he considers anyone who thinks the Bible, or any part of it, is literally true to be a threat.

But, Schaeffer has also done something positive here. He has removed the possibility of him claiming that anything in the Bible is legitimate or applicable to anyone. He cannot say that anyone should “love their neighbor” because Jesus said to because, if the Bible is not to be taken literally, then anything Jesus said can’t be taken literally! And there goes trying to argue that loving your neighbor is a good thing. Feed the hungry; help the poor; clothe the naked; welcome the stranger are all off the table now for Schaeffer to make arguments with. I dig it!

That is so rich of you Gory to suddenly remember after Frank points out how literal belief in an infallible inerrant Bible grooms evangelicals for abuse… and to become abusers, as you have so earnestly demonstrated in your comments listed bellow .that Christianity is really all about feeding the hungry; helping the poor; clothing the naked; and welcoming the stranger.

“We have guns, and can arrange a civil war.”

“I don’t believe I ever claimed to love the USA.”

“Most white Alabama voters voted for Roy Moore, and almost all darkie Alabama voters voted for Doug Jones. Without the negro vote, Jones would not have won. Once again, negores have proven to be a liability rather than an asset.”

“To all the women who voted for Jones: abortion will improve your life dramatically.”

“The New Testament does not require, or even support, open borders, DACA, or any part of the liberal agenda.”

“I should not wish anyone were dead. But, it is true that those who will never become Christians would be better off if they were dead, since the longer they live, the more sins they commit and the greater will be their eternal punishment. Now I didn’t invent that system, God did. So if you have a problem with it, you should complain to the God of the Bible.”

“You think abortion is murder? Your liberal friends won’t like that. But, you are right, abortion is the murder of an unborn child. That’s why it’s immoral and unconstitutional. But, it still has some benefits. Women who have abortions are wicked. If they had the child instead of killing it, they would raise it to be wicked, like they are. We have an oversupply of wicked people already. So it benefits society for wicked women to not reproduce.”

“I wouldn’t expect people involved in interracial sex to be a fan of Roy Moore.”

“Are you white? Unless you are, you can’t pollute the White Race by having sex with a negro.”
“Abadie, I didn’t mean to limit encouraging abortions to only the black women who voted for Doug Jones. I meant to include ALL women who voted for Jones. And I explained why in a past post.”

It was originally God’s idea that sex between people of the same sex should carry the penalty of death. So, if you want to blame the right person, you should blame God.”

“Don’t be too sure your relationship with your boy is healthy, the two of you fornicate with each other.” (In reference to my Black partner)

“Abadie, If you weren’t a slut, getting knocked up wouldn’t be a possibility.” (Also in reference to my Black partner)

When I asked him: “Would you please explain why in your view I am a slut… As in what exactly do you believe I am doing with my partner that would classify me as such?” His reply was: “Because you have a black boyfriend. Black men won’t date white women who refuse to have sex with them.”

“By the way, you are the one who decided to be a slut. That decision was yours alone. If it bothers you that people notice, well, that goes with the territory.”

“But those “roughly 40 other Christian denominations” are NOT CHRISTIANS!!! Only fundamentalist Christians are real Christians.”

“Non-Christians WILL burn in Hell for eternity because that is what the Bible says.”

“The God of the Bible is the God who is going to put you in Hell!”

“I don’t have the power to condemn you. If I did, you would already be in Hell. But I know the kind of people God condemns, and you are one of them.”

“abadie, You’re one who likes to live in their own little pretend world. A world where YOU make the rules and decide what is real and what is not. Boy, are you in for a big surprise when reality is finally forced upon you!”

“Hell is a Biblical teaching. It’s a real place where real people go when they die. It should frighten everyone.”

“You can’t prove that torture is immoral.”

” I’m not wrong. Happily for me, all my sins have been atoned for. Not so for you.”

“I don’t decide who goes to Hell. God does. And God has already decided that is where YOU are going.”

“If Francis and Edith Schaeffer approve of what Frank is doing, then they are not in Heaven.”

“Every Democrat in America violates many New Testament principles. Yet, you prefer one of them be President instead of Trump. I don’t. Liberals are bad for America.”

“Uniting people is only impossible when one or both sides are unwilling to compromise.
That’s my point. I’m not willing to compromise.”

“There are lots of bad people out there. But you and Frank want to import more of them.”

“If you and Frank didn’t want to import bad people, you would support increased vetting.”

Biblically understood, Christianity doesn’t ‘merge’ with anything, be it your Republicanism, my socialism, or democrat ideology. They may all have something to say about Christianity which may be profitable here or there; but none of those systems is Christ and the Gospel. And believers are to be found among adherents of all those systems.

I am not a Republican. Neither would I say that I subscribe to “Republicanism”, however that may be defined. I also don’t subscribe to democrat or socialist ideology. And I do not agree that “believers are to be found among adherents of all those systems”.

You may not agree with Capitalist, republican, democrat or socialist ideals. But how could one know that none who do adhere to those or other systems trust Christ to forgive, accept and ultimately resurrect/transform them on the last day?

Hmmm … a case of the double standards perhaps ? Or is it just your pretentious pseudo intellectualism shining thru like a covered flashlight on top of a manure pile ?

Seriously … as much as it pains me to say this gdd … you are as bad … if not worse than Gary Bryson .. you both being nothing more than different sides of the exact same coin . The only difference being … at least Brys**t has an excuse . He/she it is an idiot internet troll . Whereas yourself ?

Sorry gdd .. but you are completely devoid of any rational excuse for your volitionally outright stupidity what so ever

You’ve depicted me as a disaffected Democrat, as one who read too much Gutiérrez, a too-little read Marxist, a liberation theologian, as a Roman Catholic priest, and now a Communist. This – because you just can’t bring yourself to admit that after doing the same seminary/post grad school gig you did, one could possibly land where I did!

What should I do? Laugh? Pity you? Shake my head in wonder and walk away silently?

If I hoped for agreement to the assertion that alien ideologies cannot be superimposed on Christ, I was pipe-dreaming.

I’ve already catalogued your aspersions cast on Gary Bryson’s parentage, implied threats against her person, etc. And I have called you repeatedly to make confession of your behavioral misconduct and ask his forgiveness.

The heretical blasphemous demonic troll from the bowls of hell itself propagating its hypocrisy and lies all while READING INTO Frank’s comments and videos what it wants to see , hear and believe … rather than taking the time to actually READ .. or LISTEN to that which Frank is trying to say

I listened, closely, to what Frank says. That’s how I know he considers Christians to be stupid, out of touch with reality, and a danger to society. If you don’t understand that is what Frank means, then there is something wrong with YOU!

I donated to Katie’s campaign today, and I am volunteering at the DNC to stuff envelopes for a new membership drive. I share in the resistance by posting your videos on my FB page. Oh, I love the robe!

abadiem, I have never said that Christianity is really all about loving your neighbor, feeding the hungry, etc.. That’s what people who are not Christians like to say Christianity is about. Real Christians don’t say that because we know that Christianity is primarily about something else.

We know that according to you, Christianity is about punishing, traumatizing, and taking vengeance of those who don’t believe as you do, unning around rampant looking to lynch, burn and execute folks for no other reason than because according to your erroneous interpretation, the bible says so. You have made THAT most evidently clear!

abadie, God takes vengeance on those He determines deserve it. I know you don’t believe that, but you’re wrong. I have never lynched, burned, or executed anyone in my life. Neither have any of the Christians I have known.

My interpretation of the Bible is no different than that of millions of Christians living today, or who have lived on earth.

God takes vengeance . Hmmm … oh really ? Seems to me what God does according to Scripture is to PASS JUDGEMENT … not take vengeance

And ahh

” My interpretation of the Bible is no different than that of millions of Christians living today, or who have lived on earth ”

Oh yes it is Brys**t . Fact is 99% of all Christians are in polar opposition to your demented heretical and blasphemous so called … ‘ interpretations … which in reality … are intentional misinterpretations and lies

Then again Gory… you do live in a really small town, and don’t know too many people nor have many friends. But hey! I get it! You’ve figured that as long as you don’t have to get your hands dirty with the blood of the persecuted, it’s perfectly OK to vote for those who would then order others to do these things for you. This way you can have the satisfaction of riding the world of those deemed by likes of you to be “undesirable” and still get to go to Heaven! What a plan… Really!!!

” abadiem, I have never said that Christianity is really all about loving your neighbor, feeding the hungry, etc.. That’s what people who are not Christians like to say Christianity is about. Real Christians don’t say that because we know that Christianity is primarily about something else ”

I don’t see any evidence for the argument that Schaeffer hates Christians. His battle is with those who have highjacked religion in order to serve their political ends. The best thing the U.S. has or had going for it was the separation of church and state. The erosion of that bit of genius on the part of our founding fathers is naturally something to be alarmed about. It is especially egregious when religion is used as a weapon to promote hatred, intimidation, and intolerance. It is especially frightening when governments use religious fervor in order to maintain control through fear mongering. It makes no difference the basis of that fear whether it be of hell’s fire, other religions and races, gays, or empowered women.
Tara

Well said Tara. I read Frank’s book Crazy For God and never picked up on any evidence that he hates Christians either. It’s the perverted forms of those religions he detests. I have a lot of respect for Frank for shining a light on the dark side of religion. He has seen it from a vantage point that most of us have not.

Tara,
If you really want to know, get a King James Version of the Bible and read chapter three of the Gospel of John. It comes right after Luke in the New Testament. Then tell me what you think the main message is.

” If you really want to know, get a King James Version of the Bible and read chapter three of the Gospel of John. It comes right after Luke in the New Testament. Then tell me what you think the main message is”

Ahhh … and since when has your opinions and so called interpretations ever lined up with any Bible … never mind the KJB … which is the worst interpretation and intentional misinterpretation available ?

” And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said “The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence”

Gee Brys**t .. have you ignored the most quoted passages of John 3 ? That being ;

” 16 : For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 ; For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ”

And by the way Brys**t .. for your edification …. the entire Bible including both the old and mew covenants … is all about mans failures … and yet despite those failures since Adam and Eve .. God still being willing to reach down .. rather than destroy His beloved creation .. man

Seriously … ensconced within communism masquerading as liberation theology catholicism as you are .. … as much as it pains me to say this gdd … you are as bad … if not worse than Gary Bryson .. you both being nothing more than different sides of the exact same coin . The only difference being … at least Brys**t has an excuse . He/she it is an idiot internet troll . Whereas yourself ?

Sorry gdd .. but you are completely devoid of any rational excuse for your volitionally outright stupidity what so ever

>> The greatest trick Christian nationalists — or their more explicit cousins to the right, white nationalists — have up their sleeve is to claim they are being persecuted. Central to the narrative of Christian nationalism in the White House, no less than the explicitly white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, is the idea that the “liberal media” and “PC police” have banded together to silence the “true” speakers of truth — a dynamic that, in the rhetoric of Christian nationalism, turns into a full-on war between good and evil (just consider how Roy Moore’s defenders compared him to Jesus during the last days of his campaign). <<

Very interesting and insightful albeit sobering article. No doubt that Drumph and his evangelical advisers have been seeding this rhetoric into his presidency since the beginning. And on the topic of Drumph’s administration does genuinely come under threat, according to the narrative that Drumph and his administration have established, his supporters are, at least implicitly, divinely bound to rise up and defend it… Here is another take from a very different source, that touches on the potential of widespread violence.

Margarita, have you heard about the POTUS SHIELD? It’s a group of wacky evangelicals like Cindy Jacobs, Paula White, Lance Wallnau, etc. who claimed to receive divine guidance from God to form this mega prayer group to protect the president from persecution and satanic attack. Very delusional individuals. They have a lot of info about it on the Right Wing Watch website.

No… I had not heard about the Potus Shield up until you pointed them out to me. But now that I have… I’m like: “We really DO need to make sure that these folks don’t vote in those who would further THAT agenda! I mean… Talk about some really scary and F*cked Up Sh*t, such as the “divine anointing” of a sexual predator!!!

That has to be one of the spookiest articles I’ve read yet! I have read about Mike Pence and the damage he did as governor of Indiana. Trump will eventually self-destruct. He lets his pathology hang out for the world to see like a very unruly child. Pence seems to at least wear a mask of respectability(and it is just a mask). He has the ability to fool a lot more people in that sense.

This is scary stuff right here! My sister was an electrical engineer, and were raised Catholic. Her family moved to Raleigh, NC, about 30 years ago, from California. Her husband is an theist. That didn’t matter until she started going to a non-denim church. Her bible study group advised her to stop having sex with her husband so he would walk away and she would be free. She took their advice. He hasn’t walked yet, and remains an atheist. She gave up her lucrative career to home school their two daughters. One is in a christian college, and the other is a senior. They are two of the strangest kids I know. My sister has since gotten her PhD in Divinity and is now an ANGLICAN priest! Anglican! I didn’t know they were crazy, too.

But we can take comfort in the knowledge that generation Joshua will not be able to outbreed us, nor will they be able to continue having all that free time on their hands when because of the tax cuts they find themselves having to go to work instead of sit at home and continue to collect welfare checks, while they plot on their twisted version of world dominion.

In a nutshell, al we need do is play them back at their own game. That being:

We are the majority so we can outvote them … IF … we are willing to organize, mobilize, and out-activate them.

As for their argumentation skills… Hit them back with science to debunk their “creation story” (which they hold onto as if their “afterlife” in heaven depended on it) and then bring into question that if the bible was wrong about the earth being flat and only about 6,000 to 10,000 years old, what else is it wrong about? (Hence the reason why they so fervently profess the fictitious “creation story” to be true.)

I too think that it is going to get worse before it gets better. And Yes! John sure does post really good articles. Sadly… not enough people are reading them, and still, go about their lives as if nothing is happening, seemingly more preoccupied with getting that unnecessary item on sale, than losing every single right our forefathers fought so hard to obtain.

Who do you mean by “forefathers”? The men who wrote the US Constitution never fought for a “right” to kill your unborn child, or marry someone of the same sex, or steal your neighbor’s property. Or marry someone of a different race.

By forefathers… I mean all those who fought to preserve our constitution, in which there is no mention whatsoever of neither god nor Jesus, nor any mention whatsoever that abortion, same-sex and/or interracial marriages are immoral/illegal, and therefore, must be harshly punished by the law.

As for “the right of stealing your neighbor’s property…” What exactly do you mean by that?

If there is no mention of abortion, same-sex and/or interracial marriages in the US Constitution, then the courts had no reason to claim such things are constitutional rights. Which makes the court’s decisions illegitimate on those “rights”.

By the right to steal your neighbor’s property, I mean the right to have the government take your neighbors property, usually money, and give it to you. Of course that is after the government takes a big chunk of it for their “expenses”.

Yeah…. yeah… Yeah! So says he who is too busy reading all about the end of times in the bible to the exclusion of all else, and is thus absolutely clueless about the 14th amendment of our constitution.

All of these Fundamentalist religious freaks have more in common with ISIS than with freedom loving America, and should be reminded of Jefferson’s wise words: “And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions.” –Thomas Jefferson: 1st Inaugural Address, 1801.

” Dolores, Exactly what do “these Fundamentalist religious freaks” have in common with ISIS? ”

Gee Bulls**t Brys**t … hmmm .. lets see now ;

Both pervert their respective scriptures and faith

Both are religious cults steeped in blasphemy hypocrisy and heresy

Both are convinced the entire world needs to believe exactly what they believe and are willing to go to any ends to accomplish that goal

Both are mired in violence , prejudice and hatred

Golly Brys**t … and thats just a quick one off the top of my head . God only knows how many other ideologies ethics and agendas both ISIS and the christofascist fundamentalists ( emphasis on mental ) have in common I could come with if I were willing to waste the time on you to do so

Nothing I’ve ever said is a lie and I dare you to prove otherwise . Whereas every word you type is nothing but lies .

In as far as genetics are concerned . In light of the fact that the Bible states clearly that the sins of the father fall upon the son . Your father must be a real white trash stupid **s piece of s**t .. not to mention your mother being one of the whores of Babylon Scripture alludes to

Martin, Your life, and Schaeffer’s prove Christians are not determined to use any means possible to force people to believe what Christians do. If your claim was true, you would both still be part of Christianity. But you’re not.

” Martin, Your life, and Schaeffer’s prove Christians are not determined to use any means possible to force people to believe what Christians do. If your claim was true, you would both still be part of Christianity. But you’re not ”

Yeah … thats a real relevant argument .. containing all the logic and relevancy one would expect from the 15 year old troll son of a whore and a lying bastard .

Care to try again ? Or have you had quite enough of your vile little foot being shoved down your sodomized little throat ?

Welcome to the big leagues junior … gloves are off .. and your **s is mine ,

” LOL! None of the churches I know of do that, and I live in the Bible Belt, and am familiar with several churches ”

Back to the little girl routine … ehhh ?

Oh …. but sorry Brys**t … but as always … the last laugh is on you as you once again try and lie your way out of a situation .

FYI Dumb*ss … DHS stands for Department of Homeland Security … and their statistics have been verified by multiple sources within and outside the Federal Government including multiple family organizations . charities . churches , public schools and social welfare and children’s welfare groups

And in light of the fundamentalist community having the largest percentage of incest , rape and adultery of any single group in the US .. why would it come as any surprise that parents are willing to sell their daughters services off to the highest bidder in order to pay the bills and/or feed their drug/alcohol addiction

…. and ahhh … Brys**t … as a little reminder .. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in and with several fundamentalist churches across the US .. including rural , suburban and urban … as well as more than a few IFB churches which you pretend to attend .

And suffice it to say I’ve seen those behaviors first hand and worse … in each and every congregation I’ve had the distinct displeasure of spending time with .

And guaranteed when one of Frank’s article’s are relevant .. I will expose everything for one and all to see .

” The churches I am familiar with don’t traffic in people. I can’t say what goes on in churches I am not familiar with ”

You’re a liar Brys**t . The fact is you are not familiar nor have you ever attended any church .. period . And even if you were or had … are you stupid enough to think that human trafficking does not go on behind closed doors ?

Get a grip Brys**t … theres a whole lotta ugliness going on in every church imaginable right in front of your eyes . Fact is … assuming anything you’ve every said about yourself might be true … odds are you’re most likely a product of that ugliness * .

*e.g. odds are you are the product of either rape or incest somewhere within recent family history

” “theres a whole lotta ugliness going on in every church imaginable right in front of your eyes.” If that is true, why are you only criticizing fundamentalist churches? ‘

Ahhh .. Bryson .,,, WTF planet are you living on ?

FACT ; Every major publication nationwide Christian , Secular or otherwise … including TAC ( The American Conservative ) Modern Reformation etc has been publishing multiple articles over the past seven years .. many of which I and others have referenced here including links …

.. not only criticizing …. but soundly condemning what passes today as Fundamentalist as well as Evangelical ( and catholic ) faiths .

Fact is Bryson .. as I’ve stated previously …. the only two that have not been criticizing and condemning what passes for fundamentalist and evangelical beliefs etc in the US .. are .. Breitbart and FoxNews

And I don’t ONLY criticize what pretends to be todays fundamentalist churches . Fact is Brys**t .. if you had a modicum of memory … you’d remember that I soundly condemn all forms of christian heresy .. be they liberal , universalist , fundamentalist etc .

The fact that fundamentalists always come to the top of the list is because as with all refining processes … the worst of the dross comes to the top first . And what has become the American fundamentalist church over the last 50 years is by far the worst that there is

I define “Christian fundamentalists” more narrowly than you do. So when you are criticizing “Christian fundamentalists” you are not talking just about the same people I am thinking of. But, it makes little difference. We can both criticize and defend who we want. Our opinions aren’t likely to change anything.